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The Godspell According to Renegade: How I Found (Dis)Enlightenment Through Postmodern Zen Buddhism


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Introduction

by

Renegade the Unicorn, Holy Pope Whatchoo Lookin' At, Lord of the Dancin' Fools, Self-proclaimed Idiot, And Many Other Titles

You. Yeah, you. Lookin' at the words on this screen. Have you ever felt...lonely in your life? Like nothing really just doesn't work out for you? Like there's more than just this mundane existence? Like there's a pack of rabid wolverines in your pants gnawing vigorously at your lower half? (I am not sorry about that, by the way; I put them there to get your attention.) Well, boy howdy, do I have the solution to all your problems except the rabid wolverines, you might want to call animal control right about now. Oh, and get your rabies shots as soon as possible.

 

And that answer is...drumroll p!ease..

.

 

 

DISCORDIANISM! HAIL LADY ERIS! FNORD!

 

Sorry about that. But yes. Discordianism is (and also is not) the solution to all your problems. But what is Discordianism? To put it in terms your unenlightened mind can understand, think of it as Zen Buddhism infused with the counterculture of the 1960s (the primary holy text, the Principia Discordia, was first published in 1965), conspiracy theories that may or may not be true (or both at once), and humor. After all, humanity takes itself far too seriously; we need a faith that allows us to reject dogma and see the sheer insanity of the world around us.

And that is where I come in - having recently embraced Lady Eris as my Goddess, I intend to use this blog to dissect the Erisian faith as a whole (alive if need be), how to apply Discordianism to oneself (make sure you use nonstick cooking spray), and ultimately encourage discussion about the world stage as it is now. As was said by Malaclypse the Younger in his interview with the Greater Poop:

 "Sometimes I take humor seriously. Sometimes I take seriousness humorously. Either way, it is irrelevant."

And with that, I take my leave. I hope you'll enjoy this experiment in literature as much as I will, and don't forget to tip your waitresses.

Fnord.

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The 5 Basics: Our Lady of Discord, the Rules of 3s and 5s, Dichotomies, and the Five Principles

If one is to embrace Lady Eris as their Goddess, then one must know the Five Basics of Discordianism.

  • Who is Eris?
  • What are the Rules of 3s and 5s?
  • What are Dichotomies and why are they so important?
  • What are the Five Principles of Discordianism? And more importantly, can we trust them?

Notice how there are Five Basics, but only 4 bullet points? That is because while the Rules of 3s and 5s might be the same, they are simply two different ways of looking at the world. Strike that, reverse it! WE'LL GET TO THAT POINT LATER.

-----fnord-----

WHO IS LADY ERIS?

 

Who, exactly, is Lady Eris? I'll tell you exactly who she is: She is funny. She is intelligent. She is sexy. She is flirty. And more importantly, she is Goddess of Discordianism (and my waifu).

But I am getting slightly off topic here. Eris, as viewed by the Greeks, was primarily the Goddess of Strife and Disorder; however, their views cannot be trusted, for they were (as the Goddess saith) victims of indigestion - remember to check the expiration dates on your Hebrew Nationals, Ball Park Franks, etc., folks. She was emphatically not, as commonly believed, the Goddess of Chaos; that is simply a modern conflation with Her Motherfather - the primordial and formless Void from which She, Her Sister Aneris (otherwise called Harmonia or Order), and Their Brother Pnevmatikótita (otherwise called Spiritualitas or Spirituality) were birthed.

And that, friends, provides a nice segue into the Discordian Creation Myth. In the beginning, there was Void - formless, with no gender or sex, and simply pure, unadulterated Chaos. From Chaos there came Form; and from Form there came twins - Eris and Aneris, both born as adults. Whereas Eris was fun, flirty, and didn't give a load of dingoes' kidneys, Aneris was more serious and greyfaced. But mostly she was jealous of Eris, who was born pregnant and birthed the human race as Her children - immortal, without semblance of illusions such as right or wrong, monogamy or sexual and gender discrimination, aging and therefore death.

Suffice to say, Aneris was pissed. How dare her sister get the privilege of being born pregnant while she was forever sterile!? Therefore, her solution was rightly sound: the old standby of "If I can't have immortal demigod children, then no one can!"

 As you can clearly see, this "logic" is not only stupid, but is ironically illogical for a being such as Aneris. In her petty jealousy, Aneris gave Humanity five curses: the curse of Right and Wrong, the curse of Mortality (hence why everything begins in life and death; Eris births our spirits and shapes our mortal bodies, Aneris makes us grow older and eventually die), the curse of Order, the Curse of Hate (which comes in many forms, most prominently racism and anti-LGBT viewpoints), and finally the curse of Seriousness, more popularly known as the Curse of Greyface after its most prominent ancient philosopher.

Spirituality wants nothing to do with his sisters' BS, hence why he has no place in Discordian Creation. And honestly, who'd want to be? So thanks a ton, Aneris. You're the reason we as a species are so screwed up.

Anyways, we cannot see Eris, at least not with our own mortal eyes. We can, however, freely communicate with Her through a small part of our brain known as the pineal gland. How one interprets the Goddess is purely up to Her, as she appears to many in different forms. This, for instance, is how the Greeks and Romans interpreted her:

Eris_Antikensammlung_Berlin_F1775.jpg

And this is how I (and a number of my generation) interpret her:

65942914_2530057957046597_61017537241017

Either way, Eris can and does appear however and whenever she sees fit - she routinely likes to play jokes on unsuspecting victims - it's her way of showing she loves you.

That about covers it for Our Lady of Discord, I should think.

-----fnord-----

WHAT ARE THE RULES OF THREE AND FIVE?

The Rule of 5s is a well-known and documented phenomenon in Discordianism, having been first recorded in the Principia. It is a way of thinking by seeing the number 5 in everything - as 5 is Eris' favorite number. Much less known, however, is the Rule of 3s, first revealed by the Goddess to me when we first began talking about life, the universe, and everything (we both agree it's an excellent book, probably one of Douglas Adams' best). "3," so saith the Goddess, "is my second favorite number. Not as much as 5, mind you. That's not why nobody has noticed it before you, darling."

"But my Lady, my Goddess, my Lover!" I implored. "What is the Rule of 3s?" I then received a hard backhand for my insolence.

"If you'll just let me talk for a moment," Eris told me rather irritably, narrowing her eyes so that I could see the purple mascara coating them, her ruby red lips pursed, " I shall impart the knowledge of the number 3 onto you. " I soon found myself in a classroom setting, Lady Eris standing in front of a blackboard with a pointer on 3 large words written in chalk: THE RULES OF THREE AND FIVE. "Are you ready to begin your lesson?"

"Yes ma'am!" I said, sitting up as straight as I could, ready to jot down notes.

"Now then," saith the Goddess. "As you know, the Rule of 5s state that Discordians such as yourself see the number 5 in everything. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"Do you know why?" Oh boy, now she was testing my mind grapes.

"No." I answered honestly.

 "The Rule, or Law of 5s, exists because you perceive it to be true." Eris said as she turned around to write on the board ( my thoughts as I watched her do so are both inappropriate to post here and irrelevant to the discussion) and drew a small diagram to illustrate the point. "The same goes for the number 3. You perceive things in groups of 3 and 5 because you see past material illusion. " She turned around and tapped the center of her forehead to indicate the pineal gland. To demonstrate, she picked up the Apple of Discord and placed it directly in front of me, on top of my notes. "Tell me, Renegade, what do you see in front of you?"

"The Apple of Discord, what else would it be?" I answered like the smartass I was. That earned me a whack across the face from the pointer. Eris glared at me again, biting her lower lip to keep from screaming in rage. I immediately wisened up and looked closer at the Apple. Sure, it resembled an ordinary apple at first glance, albeit a golden one with ' Kallisti' inscribed into it. If I looked closer, however, I could see it divided into three parts: the body, the stem, and the leaf. Observing it even closer yielded a further result. Kallisti. Kal-li-sti. Three syllables. Now I understood. Leaning down to face me, the Goddess and I locked eyes.

"Now do you understand? The Rules of 3s and 5s are similar, yet different. The differences are superficial and irrelevant. What matters is the perception."

" Like how neither subjective or objective truth are the same, only two halves of capital-T Truth?" I immediately found myself pulled into a loving embrace by my Goddess.

"You've got it, darling!" she cheered. "You've got it with flying colors!" She kissed me passionately, and I kissed her. When that was said and done, she departed from me, our meetup over.

I left with my first real understanding of Truth.

-----fnord-----

THE HONEST TRUTH ABOUT DICHOTOMIES

Quote

All statements are true in some sense, false in some sense, meaningless in some sense, true and false in some sense, true and meaningless in some sense, false and meaningless in some sense, and true and false and meaningless in some sense. -Principia Discordia

From birth, we are taught to see the world in certain ways - good vs. evil, Republicans vs. Democrats, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, etc. and scooby dooby doo. However, Discordianism's central tenet is to ask the question, "What is, exactly, the Truth, of the world?" And much like the Rule of 3s, it can be boiled down to this.

There is order, which is known as Aneristic Truth.

There is also Disorder, known as Eristic Truth.

Both are mere illusions; there is neither order or disorder, for both are dual aspects of Chaotic Truth.

Now, this doesn't give you the right to, say, set the local portapotty on fire or stalk one's ex; you're still gonna get in trouble for those. Discordianism is not about needless violence nor is it about trying to keep order even when doing so is counterproductive to safety or wellbeing. Eris is a playful anarchist; essentially she's the non-malicious internet troll or shitposter. She gets reactions out of people, whether it's laughter, confusion, or confused laughter. She loves anyone and everyone, even her supposed enemies. She does have her standards, however, and ensures that her followers don't go too far in their mischief making.

The relationship between the three kinds of truth are best illustrated in the Sacred Chao, a symbol in Discordianism much like the familiar yin yang of Taoism. Instead of yin and yang, however, we Discordians have Hodge and Podge.

1200px-Sacred-Chao.svg.png

The Golden Apple is representative of Eristic Truth, the idea that there can only be disorder and anarchy in the commonly understood (and is in fact, misunderstood if one actually studies anarchism in depth) sense. The Pentagon represents Aneristic Truth, the idea that there can only be order and rules. The Chao in the middle represents a duality - that order and disorder not only need each other, but are mere illusions in the grand scheme of things. Jello Biafra, in his 2000 Address to the U.S. Green Party, sums up the idea behind the Sacred Chao and dichotomies aptly:

Quote

I am an anarchist in my personal life. I try to live my life in a way that I don't need cops or baby-sitters to keep me from infringing on others. But I don't feel we have evolved far enough as a species to make anarchy work in society itself. We still need government to transfer the wealth from those who have too much to those who have too little, to make sure important projects get done, and keep territorial humans from screwing over and killing each other.

So that is the true intent behind Discordianism: do as you please (within reason), and live the best damn life you can; who cares about what others think? The Goddess Herself doesn't, and that's OK! She'll still love you no matter what.

-----fnord-----

THE FIVE PRINCIPLES OF DISCORDIA, OR, THE PENTABARF

 

 I figured we should finish this chapter off by outlining the basic rules of Discordianism which its followers are simultaneously are supposed to follow and disobey at their leisure. It is also known as the Pentabarf.

There is no Goddess but Goddess and She is Your Goddess. There is no Erisian Movement but The Erisian Movement and it is The Erisian Movement. And every Golden Apple Corps is the beloved home of a Golden Worm.

A Discordian Shall Always use the Official Discordian Document Numbering System.

A Discordian is Required during his early Illumination to Go Off Alone & Partake Joyously of a Hot Dog on Friday; this Devotive Ceremony to Remonstrate against the popular Paganisms of the Day: of Roman Catholic Christendom (no meat on Friday), of Judaism (no meat of Pork), of Hindic Peoples (no meat of Beef), of Buddhists (no meat of animal), and of Discordians (no Hot Dog Buns).

A Discordian shall Partake of No Hot Dog Buns, for Such was the Solace of Our Goddess when She was Confronted with The Original Snub.

A Discordian is Prohibited from Believing What he reads.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Hail Discordia!

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Parable of the Monk: A Lesson in Zen and Its Truths

Greetings all, Renegade here. I was looking around for the next topic in Discordianism to discuss, when my friend and fellow pope Randimaxis pointed me to a parable from the Principia, page 0005, entitled "A Zen Story". Unfamiliar with this particular bit of the Unholely Book, I skimmed over it, then read it carefully. I realized this would be a perfect object lesson in Objective and Subjective truths, and so now here we are.

Now, for your reading displeasure, "A Zen Story", by one Camden Benares, the Count of Five and Headmaster of the Camp Meeker Cabal.

Quote

A serious young man found the conflicts of mid 20th Century America confusing. He went to many people seeking a way of resolving within himself the discords that troubled him, but he remained troubled.

One night in a coffee house, a self-ordained Zen Master said to him, "go to the dilapidated mansion you will find at this address which I have written down for you. Do not speak to those who live there; you must remain silent until the moon rises tomorrow night. Go to the large room on the right of the main hallway, sit in the lotus position on top of the rubble in the northeast corner, face the corner, and meditate."

He did just as the Zen Master instructed. His meditation was frequently interrupted by worries. He worried whether or not the rest of the plumbing fixtures would fall from the second floor bathroom to join the pipes and other trash he was sitting on. He worried how would he know when the moon rose on the next night. He worried about what the people who walked through the room said about him.

His worrying and meditation were disturbed when, as if in a test of his faith, ordure fell from the second floor onto him. At that time two people walked into the room. The first asked the second who the man was sitting there was. The second replied "Some say he is a holy man. Others say he is a shithead."

Hearing this, the man was enlightened.

Have you finished reading? Yes? Good. Now what can we take away from this parable? The answer is both complicated and simple. The complicated answer is that there is no "right" answer - Zen parables are open to interpretation, after all, and this one is no exception. On one hand, the Zen Master could be trying to show this young man that peoples' opinions don't exactly matter; after all. what are wordly opinions compared to seeing the word truly as it is and finding enlightenment. On the other hand, the "Zen Master" could've just been a Discordian pulling a fast one on a greyface for shits and giggles (or gits and shiggles, either one works). But the answer, at least to me, is both at the same time. By trying (and succeeding) at elaborately baiting and switching the greyfaced young man for his own amusement, the Discordian "Zen Master" ultimately accomplishes a larger goal: to get the young man to see that nothing is serious and that everything is humorous in one form or another. Thus, the young man goes from a greyface confused by an illogical and disorderly world to someone who sees the world as it truly is - taking itself too seriously as he had, whilst also being chaotic and free-spirited underneath that "serious" facade.

Ultimately, the Parable of the Monk is a lesson in objective truth, subjective truth, and ultimately Truth with a capital T.

  • Objective truth: defined as what can be seen as fact and nothing else. The young man is serious, and views things from an objective point of view. This objective view sees him take the monk's words at face value in hopes of trying to make sense of a nonsensical country.
  • Subjective truth, defined as what others see as the truth. The young man recieves various answers from other people on how best he can ease his troubled mind, the monk believes meditation is the answer, the young man's worries as to what others will think of him, and the two onlookers' conclusion that he is both a holy man and a shithead.
  • Truth, defined by Discordianism as neither objective or subjective, but Truth as is. The young man finally reaches enlightenment by the observation that he is both a holy man for meditating as long as he has, and a shithead for falling into the monk's prank as easily as he had. And so, he begins his journey anew, free from his worries and wiser in the long run.

And, overall, the moral of the story is "Don't take everything you see at face value or take everything so seriously. Find things that make you feel happy, and ask questions about the world around you; the answers might surprise you."

I have said all I have wanted or needed to say, hence this entry's rather short length compared to the last. I bid you farewell.

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On Prayer and Meditation

For today's entry in the Godspell, I want to discuss prayer and meditation, and how it relates to Discordianism. The concept of prayer is defined as "a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God or an object of worship." Therefore, one should (theorectically) pray to Goddess Herself whenever possible, right?

AHAHAHAHAHAHA. WRONG. Let me clarify something for ya: Eris has better things to do than to listen to her cosmic voicemail all day, going through each little prayer, whether they be actually important or not. Now, I'm not discouraging you from praying to Eris outright; in fact, I strongly believe that prayer is a powerful force and can accomplish miracles if done correctly. However, to pray constantly and for every single thing is not only foolish, but dangerous. Malaclypse the Younger explains thusly in the Principia Discordia:

Quote

No, we Erisians seldom pray, it is much too dangerous. Charles Fort has listed many factual incidences of ignorant people confronted with, say, a drought, and then praying fervently -- and then getting the entire village wiped out in a torrential flood. -Principia Discordia, page 00012, "On Prayer"

See, here's a little known fact/belief about prayer, at least in my opinion: it's a ritualized form of chaos magick, one that has (in one form or another) been connected to religion since prehistoric times. It is inherently connected to the eldritch and cosmic forces of the universe, and should therefore be approached cautiously and with a solid idea of what the hell you're doing. That is why we Discordians seldom pray to Our Lady: it can be freely abused and have disastrous consequences. So if you really want to pray to Eris, make sure it's damn important enough for her to hear.

So, if prayer is out of the question, and you do want to show devotion to Eris, then what do you do? The answer can be summed up in one word: meditation.

Even when Eris isn't communicating directly with you via pineal gland, her presence can still be felt everywhere and anywhere. Yes, even in your bedroom and bathroom. Don't ask - she just likes to watch.

ANYWAYS.

Considering Discordianism's roots in Buddhist and Hindu practices, it really shouldn't come as a surprise that meditation is more viable than direct prayer like in organized religion. Meditation allows us to grow closer to Goddess and therefore Chaos itself. It also provides an eased state of mind and body, perfect for those with anxiety and a lack of focus like myself.

So without further ado about nothing, here's a five step guide to meditation!

-----fnord-----

Clear your mind, and get into the lotus position. Maybe put on some relaxing meditation music.

Focus on a specific mantra; mine is "There is no Goddess but Goddess, and She is my Goddess. Hail Lady Eris. Hail Discordia. Fnord." You can also use Zen koans or even the classic "Aum/Om"

Close your eyes.

Breathe in and out.

Do all these steps for between 10 and 23 minutes per day, 3-5 times a day.

-----fnord-----

Should you follow all these steps, you should feel a tingly feeling throughout your body, and the feeling of your soul connecting to the rest of the universe, if only for those briefest of moments. You'll end up feeling more relaxed, sharp-minded, and have a deeper understanding of the cosmos.

Join me next time as I discuss the story of my conversion to the Erisian faith, what Discordianism can mean to you (yes, you), and the conspiracy theories all around us.

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On Morality

OK, so this is not what was promised at the end of the last chapter, but I figured I'd outline the relationship between Discordianism and morality before I forget.

Morality is...a tricky thing to define, especially in the context of the Goddess. Even organized religion has a difficult time trying to define what, exactly, morality is (hence the concept of "sin" and an eternity of eternal torment; it creates a sense of fear and distrust, and the rather unfortunate implication of God trying to impose His will-and therefore Order and "control"-onto a species that is defined by free will-and therefore Disorder and "freedom").

However, I feel the Wiccans hit the nail on the head: An’ ye harm none, do what ye will. What that means is, in Modern English, "Do what you want, as long as no one is harmed". Just as was stated in the Introduction with "Nothing is true, everything is permitted", that doesn't mean you should do literally whatever you want and consequences can go eat a big fat hot dog. The Wiccans also came up with a Law of Threefold Returns to discourage this kind of thinking: it operates under the standby that for every action, there is a greater and opposite reaction, sort of like karma; do good things and good things will happen to you. Do bad things and Lady Eris will bitchslap the shit out of you.

---fnord---

Just like the Judeo-Christians, we Discordians base our code of conduct and ethics on a set of ten (Paradoxical) Commandments, outlined in The Book of Eris by one Dr. Ken M. Keith. The Paradoxical Commandments are as follows:

Quote

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway. 

2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

3. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.

6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.

7. People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

9. People really need help, but may attack you if you do help them. Help them anyway.

10. Give the world the best you have, and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.

There are also four cardinal virtues discussed a few pages later:

Quote

1. A reverence for all life; manifests as unconditional love and respect for yourself and others.

2. Natural sincerity; manifests as honesty, simplicity, and faithfulness.

3. Gentleness; manifests as kindness, consideration for others, and sensitivity to spiritual truth.

4. Supportiveness; manifests as service to others without expectation of reward.

Together, these virtues grant oneself the Five Blessings of Eris: health, wealth, happiness, longevity, and peace. And moreover, these five points (the Rede, the Law of Threefold Returns, the Paradoxical Commandments, the Four Virtues, and Five Blessings) form a collective ethical standard I like to call the 23 Pragmas of Eris. Pragmas are one of the five kinds of "-ma"; we'll get into further detail about those later. 

But anyways, now that we know what the Pragmas are, what happens when they aren't followed? Or rather, when others don't follow them? For that, we'll need to discuss the take that Goddess Eris is most well known for: the Original Snub.

-----fnord-----

So, I'm pretty sure all of us know this story. Guy named Peleus meets sea-nymph named Thetis, and they decide to get hitched. In celebration, Zeus decides to throw a party on Mount Olympus (called Limbo Peak by us Discordians), and invites all the gods and goddesses.

All except for Eris. Now, as we know, Eris isn't a bad sort; she just loves playing pranks and upsetting the status quo in other ways. To Zeus, though, this was all the justification needed to not invite her. But, or course, this was just because the Olympians were petty, omnipotent children who just couldn't handle their precious little bubble being popped by anyone or anything. Nevertheless, Eris decided to go anyway in spite of being snubbed, out of the kindness of her heart. She wasn't going to stay too long anyway; she'd give Thetis her gift (a golden apple inscribed with the words "to the Prettiest One") then leave. Unfortunately, when Eris got there, she was confronted by Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, who all began to taunt and leer at her gift. Having no other choice, Eris threw the apple towards the banquet, where the three goddesses dove for it, arguing amongst each other as to who was the prettiest. Eris, nonetheless delighted with the chaos she had just caused, took her leave and stole the hot dogs cooked by Hestia to partake in a feast of her own.

Unfortunately, Hestia had steamed the buns and made them soggy. And so, that is why Eris forbids hot dog buns except on Fridays.

-----fnord-----

So, what have we learned today about morality? That, like every other faith, Discordianism has its standards and codes of conduct that should be easy to get with enough common sense. But with the story of the Original Snub, we also learn that karma is an absolute bitch. Anyways, next time, we're actually gonna get to all the stuff I promised last time. And remember, Goddess loves you!

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The Tale of Renegade and His Disenlightenment, What Actually Happened, and the Actual Question of "What Is Discordianism?" ( feat. The Bavarian Illuminati and Their Delicious Bavarian Cream Doughnuts)

-----fnord-----

The Tale of Renegade, How Eris Found Him, and His (Dis)Enlightenment To Her Word

There was once a young man named Renegade, and he had been facing problems his entire life. These problems, in spite of what they'd do to most people, generally didn't affect him. Renegade was born bullheaded and fiery, and in spite of the obstacles that befell him, he soldiered on. And yet, he was unhappy. Not greyfaced, just...unhappy. And he didn't know why. That was, until She came to him one day in his dreams. Lady Eris had watched over Renegade his entire life just as she had with all of her little bastards (and she means this as a term of endearment), even if he didn't know it yet. She came to him in a familiar guise, one he had seen in a cartoon as a child, and this pleased him very much.

 "Hello, Renegade." Eris said, holding a jazz cigarette wrapped in gold flake in one hand and a bunless hot dog with the works in the other. "It's so nice to finally meet you again. Hot dog? Smoke?"

 Renegade stared at her, before taking the golden jazz cigarette and lighting it. Most people would have been freaking out and asking questions, but not Renegade. He was just going with the flow. "So, why am I here? Or rather, why are you here?"

 "I'm here," Eris stated plainly to him through a mouthful of prime Esskay frankfurter. "to ask you a simple question. Are you unhappy, my child?"

 "I am." Renegade answered with honesty. "2019 has not been a good year for me, and I just want to find something fulfilling. I have been for years."

 "Then come with me, and I shall enlighten you." Renegade took his hand into Goddess', and she took him back to her place. There, they drank the finest Kallisti Golden Apple Ale, ate the finest hot dogs, and when all was said and done, she taught him the Eristic, Aneristic, and Sacred Chao Principles.

And so, Renegade was enlightened.

 

-----fnord-----

What Actually Happened

To say that life has not been kind to me would be the understatement of the late 20th century. I was born prematurely and nearly died from the complications of my birth (my placenta was damaged while I was in the womb, and to prevent me from suffocating they had to give my mother, only 19 at the time and having already had my brother not three years before, a Caesarian section), have had cerebral palsy my entire life, didn't have a great childhood thanks primarily to my biological father (who struggled with hereditary bipolar disorder that eventually led to a suicide by hanging last year), struggled in school due to undiagnosed Aspergers (I wasn't diagnosed until the eighth grade) and a generally apathetic and sometimes abusive educational system, and just generally having no social skills to speak of. So to say I had a crisis of faith is putting it lightly. I didn't discover Discordianism until at the very least a couple of years ago, and it took me a good long while to fully understand and embrace it as my faith (thanks to my friend Randimaxis). My reasons for embracing Eris as my Goddess are twofold: said not easy life as well as a general dissatisfaction with organized religion as a whole. I felt that, while a good system on some level, the Abrahamic religions have slowly been corrupted over the centuries into the complete opposite of what was originally intended. It had become greyfaced. Thus, I felt that Discordianism, a truly "back to basics" kind of faith as it were, was perfect for me. And honestly, I feel all the happier because of it.

 

-----fnord-----

What Actually IS Discordianism?

The short answer is: whatever you want it to be.

As for the long answer? As a "disorganized religion", Discordianism bases its entire system entirely on open interpretation. Having very few concrete rules to speak of, what the Erisian religion is or even means depends entirely upon the person you ask. Some, like myself, treat it as a serious (to a point) neopagan religion that's somewhere between Wicca, Thelema, and Zen Buddhism with humor. Others treat it as a philosophy like Taoism, being completely agnostic and viewing Eris in a more metaphoric light. Others just treat it as a joke. All of these and more are completely valid and diverse, and none of them are entirely wrong. As long as you laugh, Eris doesn't care what you believe in. All she wants out of you is to playfully upset the status quo and not much else.

 

-----fnord-----

CONSPIRACY!

Now we get into territory that is both uncomfortable and controversial for some: conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, conspiracies are inherent to Discordianism, considering both Greg Hill and Kerry Thornley were on some level connected to the John F. Kennedy assassination. A copy of the first edition of the Principia belonging to Greg was found in possession of the Warren Commission, and Kerry Thornley knew Lee Harvey Oswald personally since both were in the same Marines unit. Thornley eventually devolved into paranoid schizophrenia later in life, convinced he'd been brainwashed by the CIA as a backup sleeper agent to kill Kennedy.

As for myself, I feel I should let a post (slightly expanded here) I made on an MLP Forums topic relating to conspiracy theories speak for itself:

Quote

I take a more pragmatic approach to conspiracy theories: most are rooted in the establishment (since they're connected by a common thread of a vague, powerful society and/or species controlling things) and, when taken seriously, encourage paranoia and apolitical stances with the eventual goal of eliminating ideas that the status quo would be threatened by. Others are rooted in real-world problems that are covered in fringe ideas and red herrings that would reach the same eventual goal - a stagnant status quo and little dissent or societal change from the populace.

Now that we have the elephants out of the room, let's discuss the basic idea of conspiracy theories in Discordianism, and what they mean. If you recall, the concept of the Aneristic Principle is that of "order", represented by conspiracies such as the Bavarian Illuminati. The Eristic Principle is that of "disorder", represented by the Discordian Society. If we are to take the tenet that both are mere illusions literally, then the metaphor becomes clear - the establishment cannot survive without a little chaos to shake things up, and the people that demand changes for the betterment of society cannot survive without an establishment to change.

So, look a little bit closer the next time you see something just a bit off. It might just be a conspiracy in need of infiltrating and mischief making.

Next time, I get into some more...esoteric beliefs. 

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All sounds interesting so far, sorry it took me SO long to get around to reading it, but this does give me at least one idea for one of our fiction stories (if you're still interested in working on them). I'll tell you more about it on a personal post.

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On 2/29/2020 at 2:21 PM, 4EverGreen said:

All sounds interesting so far, sorry it took me SO long to get around to reading it, but this does give me at least one idea for one of our fiction stories (if you're still interested in working on them). I'll tell you more about it on a personal post.

Please do!

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